Two races down, two races won by Carlos Checa. Checa got the 2011 World Superbike season off to a fantastic start by doing the double at the opening round at Phillip Island this weekend. This is Checa’s third career double, and his 6th and 7th World Superbike victories. Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri completed the podium.

Checa won the first race by a convincing four seconds, but in race two, Biaggi was able to cut the margin down. Checa was still able to claim a comfortable victory over the 2010 champion, but only by a second this time.

Checa will walk away from Phillip Island with a total haul of 50 points. Biaggi’s two second place finish will also allow him to walk away with his head held high, as Biaggi will only be 10 points back heading into round two.

Checa wasn’t the fastest off the line during either of the races, but was able to recapture the lead early. Checa passed up Leon Haslam by lap three, and was able to hold the onto the lead until the end of the race.

Behind Checa, Biaggi and Melandri battled for second place. Melandri would end up finishing .2 seconds behind Biaggi, but nearly 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the crowd.

Jonathan Rea, who had a dissapointing race one, was able to capture fourth place for the day, beating out Leon Haslam.